In Season 2 of Landman, Tommy Norris, portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton, finds his life expanding on all fronts. With the death of Monty Miller, played by Jon Hamm, Tommy steps into the role of president at M-Tex Oil, bringing with it an escalation of professional challenges. His personal life also grows more complex as his father, TL, played by Sam Elliott, moves in, and his son, Cooper, portrayed by Jacob Lofland, announces his engagement to Ariana, played by Paulina Chavez. Complicating matters further, Andy Garcia’s character, Gallino, a notorious drug cartel leader, entangles himself with the upper echelon of West Texas oil and gas, transforming from a previous adversary into a persistent, multifaceted threat in this high-stakes industry.

The finale of Season 2 sees Tommy gambling with the biggest risk of his life. Before delving into the significance of “CTT Oil Exploration & Cattle” in the world of Landman, let’s recap the season’s highlights. Questions loom large: What transpired with M-Tex’s Gulf of Mexico gas well? Why did Demi Moore’s character, Cami Miller, dismiss Tommy? And who exactly is Cheyenne, the physical therapist? Decider provides all the answers, inviting viewers to join this thrilling narrative ride.

***Spoiler Alert: Major Season 2 plot twists ahead.***

What happened in Landman Season 2?

Upon assuming leadership at M-Tex after Season 1’s conclusion, Tommy must navigate the aftermath of Cami Miller taking over as the company’s owner. Cami, while aware of the industry’s volatile nature, is initially unaware of Monty’s risky financial maneuvers. Early in Season 2, the precarious state of M-Tex’s finances becomes apparent, particularly with a gas well project in the Gulf that Monty never executed. Instead, he diverted the $400 million intended for it to fund new oil wells near Odessa, leaving Tommy to manage the fallout of these high-stakes gambles.

Meanwhile, Tommy’s personal life is anything but calm. His reconciliation with ex-wife Angela, played by Ali Larter, and the presence of their daughter, Ainsley, a cheerleading freshman at TCU, add to the chaos as they all share living space in M-Tex corporate housing. The dynamic becomes even more colorful with Sam Elliott’s TL joining the household after a family tragedy reunites them. Angela’s invitation for TL to move in not only revitalizes old family bonds but also injects wisdom and humor into the household, as TL joins Tommy on his daily rounds, offering sage advice along the way.

“What’s your hurry? You got it all, son. But you’re too fucking stupid to see it. Or too mad. Or too addicted to the fix.”

Tommy’s relationship with TL evolves over Landman Season 2, from one of angry things unsaid for years, to the grudging understanding that they are more the same than they are different. TL joining the Norrises makes all their bonds stronger, and shows them that after all the big oil money and betting the house on success, it’s the ones you love who really keep you in this thing called life.  

While Tommy became M-Tex president, his old buddy Gallino – the cartel boss who nearly killed him at the end of Season 1 – became a financier for far-flung oil and gas projects. Tommy knows Gallino made his money in the drug game, knows he’s an actual killer as much as he only looks killer in expensive suits. But in the oil and gas game, money is often the only thing talking. Gallino makes himself the silent partner funding Tommy’s son Cooper’s independent streak of oil wells, and Gallino ingratiates himself into Cami Miller’s world as a one-man bailout for the ballyhooed gas well in the Gulf. Tommy can’t get rid of this guy, and when Angela becomes friends with Gallino’s wife Bella (Stefania Spampinato), it’s like they’re joined at the hip.

As Cooper Norris is making a go of it with Ariana Medina, proposing to the young widow he met in Season 1, and pledging to become a good father to her little son Miguel – when Ariana sends Coop to Miguel’s abuela for a character assessment, he passes with flying colors – it’s looking like he’ll become a kind of Mini-Monty, as the young owner of a string of barrel-producing oil wells. But that doesn’t happen. Instead, Cooper’s early success as a landman inspires his father to try for one big landman play, one last time. But he’s gotta get fired from M-Tex first. 

Landman Season 2: Ending Explained   

In the end, Tommy just couldn’t justify the risk. That’s what made Cami fire him, as they watched the gas well she championed float down a Louisiana waterway on its way to the Gulf. Cami finally felt the rush of wildcatting, that sense of putting all your chips on a hunch, while Tommy knew the crash on the other side of that feeling. But Cami kicking his ass out of M-Tex is actually the best thing that could’ve happened. He’s not getting any younger. And in Season 2 Episode 10 (“Tragedy and Flies”), veteran landman Tommy Norris decides to use what he feels like is probably his last shot at glory – maybe at life – to start his own goddamn oil company.

The big idea, and Cooper’s wedding engagement, almost didn’t get off the ground. At the end of Season 2 Episode 9, Ariana was almost raped outside The Patch Cafe, and in the season finale, Cooper is about to be charged with the murder of her attacker. He was only defending his fiancée, but the cops only see that the perpetrator was a rich white guy with connections to the oil and gas industry. They’re gonna railroad Tommy’s son into a murder charge when killer corporate lawyer Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace) steps in to save the day. “I’m a life ruiner,” she warns the detectives, and the words “Cooper” and “murder” are barely said again. 

So, murder crisis averted. But when it comes to the crisis of paying for his new oil company, a prospect that makes Tommy gulp down half a thing of aspirin at once, he knows he will also have to swallow his pride. He needs Gallino in his corner.

The murderous, mysterious drug kingpin, who Tommy has nevertheless grown to respect, agrees to fund the original contract made with Cooper, plus a few million more for startup costs. And “CTT Oil Exploration & Cattle” is born, right there in Gallino’s Fort Worth office. The “Cattle” part is just a whim, added to make Tommy’s LLC name unique. But the “C” stands for Cooper, the first “T” stands for Tommy, and the second “T” stands for Thomas, as in TL. With three generations of Norris men as President, Senior Vice President, and Drilling Supervisor respectively, the new venture will be a family business, a combination of Tommy’s two main passions. (Third passion: Michelob Ultra Lights.) And everyone else who’s joined the circle of trust since Landman Season 1 is in on the birth of CTT, too. Nate will be the treasurer. Rebecca will be COO and chief legal counsel. Dale will head up oil exploration, Boss (Mustafa Speaks) will run the workcrews, and Ariana will be CTT’s office manager. Even Cheyenne (Francesca Xuereb), the dancer at Rick’s Cafe who Tommy hired to be TL’s DIY physical therapist, will be in on CTT. Nobody really knows why, but this is Landman. Just go with it. 

“Y’all know what this means?” Tommy grins at his gathered family and closest work colleagues. “We’ve got our own oil company.”

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.